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A total of 123,878 houses were sold in Turkey in July, marking a 6.9 percent rise over the same period last year, the country's statistics agency announced Wednesday.
Some 57,617 houses were sold for the first time while the rest were second-hand sales, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
"For the house sales of July 2018, Istanbul had the highest share of house sales with 15.7 percent and 19,503 sold house," the agency said in a statement.
Turkish private sector's outstanding long-term loans from abroad dropped $36 million to reach at $221.7 billion as of June, versus the last year-end, according to the country’s central bank on Wednesday.Meanwhile, the private sector's pending short-term loans from abroad climbed to $19.1 billion, up $486 million compared to the end of 2017.By definition, short-term loans have an original maturity of one year or less while long-term loans have an original maturity of more than one year.Turkey's unemployment rate slips to 9.7 pct in MayThe bank said financial institutions constituted more than half of long-term loans -- 50.1 percent."In the same period, of the total short-term loans in the amount of $19.1 billion, 79 percent consists of liabilities of the financial institutions, whereas 21 percent consists of liabilities of the non-financial institutions," the bank said.Regarding currency composition, 59.7 percent of the total long-term loans were U.S. dollar loans, 34.4 percent consisted of euro, 4.3 percent were in Turkish lira and 1.6 percent from other currencies, it said.Tariffs on Turkish imports ‘pose serious risks’ for US"And of the total short-term loans in the amount of $19.1 billion, 44.4 percent consists of dollars, 34 percent consists of euro, 21.5 percent consists of Turkish lira and 0.1 percent consists of other currencies," it said.The bank also noted that principal repayments for the next 12 months by the end of June amounted $69.6 billion.The Central Bank periodically releases data for the private sector’s long and short-term loans from abroad by gathering details from credit based forms submitted by resident financial institutions and companies.Turkey raises tariffs on US-origin products
Turkish private sector's foreign long-term loans drop
Turkey's largest city was followed by the capital Ankara and the Aegean province of Izmir with 12,119 units (9.8 percent of all sales) and 6,322 units (5.1 percent of all sales), respectively.
"House sales with mortgage had a 24.5 percent share of all house sales in Turkey," it added.
Last year, the overall residential property sales amounted to 1.4 million in Turkey with a 5.1 percent annual hike over 2016.
Turkey's unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent in May, down 0.5 percentage points compared to same month last year, the country's statistical authority announced on Wednesday.The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said the number of unemployed persons aged 15 years and above -- 3.1 million last May -- slipped by 89,000 year-on-year.Official data also showed that non-agricultural unemployment decreased 0.6 percentage points to 11.6 percent during the same period.The youth unemployment rate, including persons aged 15-24, was 17.8 percent, down 2 percentage points on a yearly basis in May.Turkey's Borsa Istanbul up at openTurkStat said unemployment for the 15-64 age group was also down 0.5 percentage points to 9.9 percent in the same period.In May, employment rate rose by 0.4 percentage point from the same month last year up to 48.1 percent."The number of employed persons rose by 650,000 to 29.1 million persons in the period of May 2018 compared with the same period of the previous year," TurkStat said.The labor force participation rate was also up by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year, going up to 53.3 percent in the month.Turkey raises tariffs on US-origin productsOfficial figures showed that the labour force participation rate for males was flat at 72.6 percent and for females it was 34.4 percent with an annual rise of 0.5-percentage point.TurkStat also reported that the rate of unregistered employment -- people working without social security related to their principal occupation -- was 33.7 percent in May, marking a 0.5-percentage point decrease from May 2017.The institute will release next report on this subject on Sept. 17.
Turkey's unemployment rate slips to 9.7 pct in May
Sales to foreigners
Official data showed that property sales to foreigners in July rose by 65.6 percent year-on-year, reaching 2,858 units.
Istanbul led with 956 sales, followed by Antalya, Bursa, Yalova, and Sakarya.
Among foreigners, most sales were made to Iraqi nationals with 584 houses, TurkStat said.
Turkey's stock exchange started the midweek trading day up 1.74 percent, or 1,622.28 points, to open at 95,040.93 points on Wednesday.On the third transaction day of the week, the banking and holding sector indices gained 2.55 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively.While all sector indices started the day on rise, the leasing factoring sector index posted the best performance, up 3.71 percent.Tariffs on Turkish imports ‘pose serious risks’ for USOn Tuesday, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 closed at 93,418.65, up 0.79 percent, or 734.10 points, with a trade volume of 11.2 billion Turkish liras (around $1.72 billion).The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate dropped to 6.3470 as of 9.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT) on Wednesday, from 6.5410 at Tuesday's close.The euro/lira exchange rate fell to 7.2020 in the open market -- from 7.4500 at the previous close -- while one British pound traded for 8.0980 Turkish liras versus 8.3740 at the previous close.The price of Brent oil rose to $72.36 per barrel as of 10.00 a.m. local time (0700GMT) Wednesday, down from $73.36 at the previous close -- climbing from around $66 at the beginning of the year.Turkey raises tariffs on US-origin products
Turkey's Borsa Istanbul up at open
"The followers of Iraq were Iran with 321 house sales, Saudi Arabia with 211 house sales, Russia with 173 house sales and Kuwait with 171 house sales," the statement noted.
Last year, foreigners purchased over 22,000 properties in Turkey. Iraqis were again at the top spot with 3,805 house purchases, followed by Saudi nationals (3,345), Kuwaitis (1,691), Russians (1,331), and Afghans (1,078).
TurkStat will release its next property sales report -- for August -- in Sept. 19.
Turkey has increased tariffs on several U.S.-origin products, including alcohol and tobacco products and cars, according to a new presidential decree published early Wednesday in the official gazette.Under the decree, Turkey will raise tariffs to 100 percent on imports of the products.The new decree amends a presidential decree on July 11."Tax rates on imports of some products have been increased on a reciprocal basis against the U.S. administration's deliberate attacks on our economy," Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Twitter.Turkey to boycott US construction materialsAmong the products are cars, rice, some alcohol and tobacco products and some cosmetic products like sun creams.On Friday, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Turkey would retaliate against the raising of steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration.Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hami Aksoy said on Twitter that President Donald Trump's decision, which also violates World Trade Organization rules, does not comply with "state seriousness".Trump ramped up his attack on Turkey by raising steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 percent and 20 percent respectively.Chinese firm to buy raisins from Turkey rather than USThe U.S. decision is another salvo in the growing dispute between Turkey and the U.S.Last week, a Turkish delegation returned from Washington with no movement on the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is under house arrest in Turkey over terrorism charges.Brunson's charges include spying for the PKK -- listed as a terrorist group by both the U.S. and Turkey -- and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), the group behind the defeated coup attempt in Turkey of July 2016.Turkey to boycott US construction materialsTurkey and the U.S. are currently experiencing rocky relations following Washington’s imposition of sanctions on Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul for not releasing Brunson.The two NATO allies have been at odds since the defeated coup, which Ankara accused U.S.-based Fetullah Gülen and FETÖ of masterminding.Video: Erdoğan: Turkey will boycott US electronic products
Turkey raises tariffs on US-origin products